This invention relates generally to a thermal pack, and principally one which may contain select ingredients in the nature of chemical means which when reacted with water provide either a cold or hot pack for medical or other usage.
Numerous types of packages are readily available in the prior art and upon the market for use for therapeutic purposes, and generally such packs are manufactured having separate compartments containing select discrete ingredients which when finally intermixed together, as through the introduction of one of the chemical ingredients with the other, there is provided either a refrigerated pack or a heat package. An example of the former is set forth in the U.S. Pat. to A. A. Robbins et al., No. 2,925,719, wherein a refrigerating packet is provided containing an outer and inner envelope, with the inner envelope containing water and the outer envelope containing a refrigerating chemical, such as ammonium nitrate, for reaction with the water when the inner envelope is broken. This concept of enveloping one package within the other is even older in the art, such as shown in the earlier U.S. Pat. to A. A. Robbins, No. 2,907,173. Other U.S. patents disclose the concept of forming a therapy package particularly for imparting heat, such as shown in the U.S. Pat. to Spencer, No. 3,542,032. In this latter patent the concept of creating a thermal reaction, i.e., for making a heat pack, is disclosed through the deposition of a quantity of urea within one compartment, while another compartment of the package is intended to be filed with water or a gel.
The present application while utilizing some of the teachings of these earlier prior art patents is designed to provide a particular chemical means for achieving either a thermal heat or refrigerating environment from a specially designed pack that is reinforced so as to prevent undue leakage of its ingredients during either shipment, storage, or usage.
It is therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a therapy package for imparting a thermal reaction in the category of either a cooled or heated environment for use primarily in the treatment of animals.
It is another object of this invention to provide a thermal pack for use by humans, as for example, for for keeping warm as while attending a sporting event outdoors during the winter months.
Another object of this invention is to provide a compressible type of thermal pack that may be quickly caused to react by the consumer and without any resultant mess.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a thermal pack which may provide either instant heat or instant cold through the use of chemical ingredients which are nontoxic and noncaustic even should the user be exposed to its contents.
It is another object of this invention to provide a squeeze type pack which is significantly flexible to provide for its conformation to the surface to which it is applied for achieving maximum efficiency in the transfer of temperature to the treated area.
Another object of this invention is to provide a thermal pack which can be conveniently and immediately utilized in the treatment of animals, such as horses or the like.
These and other objects will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the summary of this invention, and in particular through a study of the description of the preferred embodiment in view of its drawing.